The Willow Necklace
by I am K
Summary: Yeah Yeah! Chapter 5 is now avaliable. I hope you all aren't too mad at me for making you wait. And for those who have never read this is sort of a comedic romatic drama in the 6th and eventually 7th years for the Hogworts crew. I hope you like it and R
1. Here we are again

Chapter 1  
Here we are Again  
  
It was a balmy and somewhat out of the ordinary, thirty-five degrees Celsius on the first of September, also the first day of sixth year for Harry Potter and Ron Weasley at Hogwarts. The sun was shining right down on their backs with no clouds in sight for shade. People were milling about and either fighting for small patches of shade or running as fast as they could on to the magically air conditioned train to escape the intense heat. Harry and Ron were struggling to lift their heavy trunks into the Hogwarts Express. Both were sweating profusely.  
  
"Good Lord it's hot out here!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
"No, really," Harry answered sarcastically. "I thought it was the perfect time to build an igloo."  
  
Just as they finally made it in the refreshingly cool train and off into one of the last empty compartments, they noticed a certain tall blonde person they were not happy to see standing just outside their window. But instead of the smug expression Draco Malfoy usually had on his face, the two boys were surprised to see him looking somewhat depressed and alone.  
  
"Well well well, look who it is. For once those two monstrosities aren't with him," Ron remarked, pressing his nose up to the window.  
  
Before Harry could give an answer, Hermione and Ginny showed up at the door of the compartment. They invited themselves in and gave Draco a small backwards glance as they closed the compartment door.  
  
"Hey boys," the girls chorused.  
  
"What the heck is Malfoy doing standing there all alone?" Ginny inquired.  
  
"No clue," Ron answered starting to pull out the exploding snap cards.  
  
"Why don't we ...invite him in?"  
  
"WHAT!?" The rest of them yelled, ganging up on her  
  
"It was just a thought. I mean he looks a little lonely. Besides aren't we supposed to treat people the way we want to be treated? Come on he can't be all bad.... maybe"  
  
"I do beg to differ." Harry snorted  
  
"Fine," Ginny said starting to head for the window. "If you bunch of ninnies are too selfish I'll do it myself. HEY DRACO! CARE TO JOIN US?" She had to yell to make herself heard over the hiss of the engine. It was ten fifty-nine and thirty seconds and the train was on the brink of pulling out of the station. Ginny figured his answer was no because he was glancing around as if someone might see that he was being addressed by a Weasley. Just at the last second Draco jumped on the train and Ginny guessed he would find a compartment with some other Slytherins.  
  
"Is he coming?" asked Ron tentatively  
  
"I don't think so." Ginny said pulling her head back inside and closing the window.  
  
"HORRAY!" the boys sang and congratulated each other with a high five for who knows what.  
  
"Try again Potter," came a smooth snide voice from the doorway. "Thank you Ginny. At least one person here has some class."  
  
Then without another word Draco slipped into a corner seat. He didn't say a word to them even when Ron was bold enough to ask if he would care to join them in a game of exploding snap. He just looked out the window as the scenery flowed past and the sky got darker and cloudier. The sky was a perfect mirror of what Draco was feeling. And so the trip went on and Draco just stared out the window. Occasionally he would glance over to see what was going on with the rest of his compartment mates. One time when he looked over at them Ginny caught his eye. She gave him one of her classic big smiles with plenty of sparkle as only Ginny can do. This took him by great surprise and he just looked away. But for the rest of the trip he kept trying to catch her eye again. It had almost worked when the trolley lady interrupted and their minds were suddenly occupied with junk food.  
  
"Heh Maou, ca fo uh chahclahd frug?" Ron tried to say with his mouth full of pumpkin pasty.  
  
"No thanks," Malfoy replied with a somewhat disgusted look on his face.  
  
"How about some Bertie Botts?" Ginny offered with another smile.  
  
"Sure," Draco replied leaning over to take some. "Thanks," he said, this time smiling back.  
  
Harry had to work very hard to restrain Ron, who was fuming from the ears, from doing anything rash. This sudden change in Malfoy's attitude towards Ginny made him, shall we say, uneasy.  
  
"So Malfoy, why the sudden depression?" Harry asked finally getting control of Ron.  
  
"None of your bloody business, Potter," Draco sneered going back to staring out the window  
  
"Ask a simple question, get a grumpy answer. What's wrong? Daddy mad at you?" Harry taunted.  
  
At this Draco's muscles tensed, his fists clenched and he closed his eyes, trying his utmost to control himself.  
  
"Oh... hit on a soft spot did I?" Harry said quietly continuing to pry.  
  
Then Draco lost it. He was on the other side of the compartment in a flash, grabbed Harry by the collar and slammed him against the wall.  
  
"At least I have parents Potter," Malfoy whispered, coming within about a centimetre of Harry's face.  
  
Harry would have punched him but he didn't have to time. Malfoy dropped him into a heap on the seat and stalked off slamming the door. Needless to say it took all of Ginny, Hermione and Ron's combined strength to keep Harry from going after him and tearing him to bits. They didn't see Malfoy for the rest of the trip.  
  
"He's probably off sulking somewhere," Harry replied soothing his bruised head after the question of Draco's whereabouts had come up.  
  
"Oh Harry you should have just left him alone. He wasn't bothering us," Ginny said as she pulled her robes over her head.  
  
"Why are you sticking up for him?" Ron asked as the group exited the train and stepped out onto the Hogsmead station platform. "He's a prying, spoiled, evil jerk. There is no good in him...anywhere!"  
  
"I still think you guys are too hard on him." Ginny said shaking her head as she headed for a coach.  
  
"Ginny, has he been easy on us? No! He's made sure we are in trouble for every possible twinge we make. He lies, cheats, does things to get what he wants. His whole family is evil AND hates our family. Have you forgotten what Mr. Malfoy does to Dad? This one thing was the only one nice thing I have or ever will do for him. From now on I want you to stay away from him. Understand? Drop it! JUST DROP IT!  
  
"Ron, stop!" Hermione had to yell, gripping his shoulder.  
  
Ginny was just standing there, tears rolling down her freckled cheeks. Ron had never yelled at her before...ever.  
  
"Ginny, I..." Ron began; but Ginny just turned and ran.  
  
Ginny didn't sit with them at the start of term feast nor did she speak to Ron as she passed the group on her way to her dorm.  
  
"I can't believe you - you know, I just can't believe you!" Hermione said to Ron as she passed the Gryffindor common room after the feast. "What would make you yell at her like that? She was just being the sweet caring person you know she is. So what if she wants to be nice to Malfoy, he never did anything to her. All that was, was your selfish pride wanting to get back at him and you took it out on her. I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"  
  
"Hermione, please..." Ron said head in his hands, his own eyes watering.  
  
"YOU DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO ASK FOR PITY AFTER THE WAY YOU TREATED YOUR OWN SISTER!" she yelled, storming up the stairs after Ginny.  
  
That first night at Hogwarts in the sixth year boy's dorm was spent in silence. Harry didn't want to say anything to Ron for fear he might get upset again. Seamus, Dean and Neville did the same as Harry had told them what had happened.  
  
"Great," Harry thought. "A perfect start to the year."  
  
He tried not to think anymore about it and finally drifted off to sleep. 


	2. Back to Class

A/N: Well there is a little hint of Ginny and Draco sub text there. We'll have to see where that goes. And Oh that Hermione! Be nice, girl. The git deserved it though. And poor Harry didn't say much, did he. Oh well there's plenty more to say. Hopefully chapter 2 will be better than chapter 1

Chapter 2

Back to Class

The next day at breakfast was a nervous one.  It was loaded with tons of silent treatment and dirty looks.  Hermione was once again not speaking to Ron and would occasionally glare across the table at him between a jug of pumpkin juice and a plate of muffins.  Harry tried not to laugh but her face look incredible funny with its narrows eyes and pursed lips between these two humble objects.  Ginny, Harry assumed, had decided to steer clear of Ron at all possible expenses.  He didn't blame her.  Even though he knew Ron was genuinely sorry, Harry had never seen him blow up at her like that and thought he would be terrified too if it had happened to him. Ron was staring silently into his eggs and picking at them rather then putting them into his mouth.  Harry tried to play peacemaker between Hermione and Ron but with little success.  Soon Professor McGonagall was heading briskly up the aisle between the benches to hand out class schedules.  Because of NEWT classes Harry and Ron, for once, were not in every single class together.  Hermione commented that it would be beneficial for them to be forced to learn for themselves for once. She was answered with a "Who asked you?" from Ron and returned to the silent treatment and glares.  Harry had NEWT Defense Against the Dark Arts first and decided to head out just to get away from the tense situation.

"I hope this year's new teacher is better then that troll Umbridge," Ron said as Harry started to get up. " You can't really tell just from looks these days."

Just as they were about to look over at the staff table Draco passed them and blocked their view.  Interested in what he could possible be doing at THEIR table and not with his friends, they watched him make his way down the row.  They were all surprised (Ron was furious) to see that he stopped where Ginny was sitting. He tapped her on the shoulder then sat down right next to her after she motioned her friends to move, which they did with out her saying anything.

"AH! He is totally flirting with her!" Hermione whispered panicked to the boys "Like I mean really flirting!"

"He is?" The boys asked.

Hermione banged her head on the table. "Ow...What am I going to do with you two. You are absolutely helpless! (A/N: I have no idea why but I am reminded of Mandy. Cheers!) You Ok, let's just hope that they don't go any farther."

"They better not go any farther," Ron fumed. "Oh...look who's talking again."

"What? Oh yeah. Look, I'm sorry I blew up like that. I was just mad. I knew that you didn't mean what you said to her but you know how it is when you feel like someone is attacking your friend, especially someone who normally wouldn't. Can you forgive me?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry too."

They hugged.  Harry, feeling slightly awkward, said he was going to go to class rather loudly to get them to stop.

"Thanks, girl," Ron said.

"No problem, but you should probably go and do likewise for Ginny. Um...even if you guys weren't mad at each other, I would still suggest it. Look."

The flirting had progressed drastically.

"Bye!" Ron called walking briskly down the aisle.

Harry and Hermione decided to leave this one to Ron and exited the hall together. They made their way into the Entrance Hall, went up the staircase to the right and headed towards Defense Against the Dark Arts.  They walked a little faster than normal because they were curious to see who their new teacher was.  They walked into the class and the few people that had already arrived greeted them warmly.  Harry sat down on one side of Seamus Finnegan and Hermione on the other. They made small talk while others filed in until the teacher came in then everyone shut up.  She was a woman, again, but much better looking, and as far as Harry could tell much better tempered than Umbridge. She certainly was much younger than Umbridge.  Actually Harry was surprised to see that she was probably in her mid twenties.  She was a very beautiful woman with a light complexion. Her dark brown hair had a soft wave in it, came to the middle of her back and was pulled into a half ponytail.  Her attire was another story because she wasn't wearing the traditional robes everyone was so used to. She was wearing a new style of robes that was really more like a dress robe. It was fitted and the sleeves were also so with a slight flare at the end. Their books for this year were also different (again). They had_ A Practical Book of Defensive Spells _by Darby Hammond.  Harry was excited by the name because it sounded like the class would be a lot of hands on type of stuff, which is exactly what Harry was hoping for.

The class, who had been whispering, quieted down because she had started to take roll.  Once she had finished she waved her hand and her name appeared on the board. "Professor Hammond" There was more chatter due to the relation of her name to the name on the book. (A/N: who would've thunk)

"Good morning people," she began.  "My name is Professor Hammond, and no, before any hands start going up, my name is not Darby, I am not a man and I did not write the textbook." The class laughed, "Actually my name is Tara and the man who wrote the textbook is my father. Yes I know you are all thinking I have an accent and as if talking strange isn't bad enough I was also named after a mound 'o dirt in a book." Several people laughed including Hermione and Harry, the rest just looked puzzled. "And if you have no idea what I am talking about it's alright.  However, to all you muggle studies students, I highly recommend _Gone with the Wind_ for your next novel study, it's an excellent book. Now on to our lesson." There were several groans from the crowd. " Hold on, I'm not finished explaining yet. I hate diving right into intense notes because I am not a mindless teaching machine. I do have a life and I hated taking notes when I was in school." Little sighs of relief echoed throughout the room.  "I always hated when my teachers made us start learning things as soon as we sat down. So we are all going to have a seat..." She waved her hand and all the desks turned into comfy chairs. "And talk about what you all did over summer holidays and what you want to accomplish this year." Hermione's hand had been straining in the air the whole time. "Ah, Miss Granger I have heard good things about you. Yes, what would you like?"

"Um Professor Hammond, shouldn't we start this years studies so we don't fall be- Ow!" Harry had jabbed her very hard in the arm.

"Shut up!" he said through clenched teeth. "For once we aren't going to have to work our butts off on the first day."

"But Harry," Hermione whispered. "We really shou-faud eu faub!" Harry had slammed his hand over Hermione's mouth

"It's nothing Professor, She's just a little over enthusiastic about her studies."

"Oh that's wonderful but for now I think a little relaxation will do."

They all took a seat in one of the many squishy chairs and waited for what other strange things were going to happen.  First they got the Professor Hammond biography that turned out to be quite interesting.  She was from New Zealand and had finished Dannot Academy for Young Witches and Wizards in Cobar, Australia, eight years ago. Then she had gone to Wizardry Secondary School in London for defense and education for four years and after that had gone home for two years to get practical experience. After that she had come back to England and worked for the Ministry of Magic as a consultant of some sort.  After the whole story was over the class received the "class expectations" which were very reasonable and fair (according to Harry.)  Finally they did something that Harry couldn't remember any of his teachers doing, they talked about what the class wanted to do for the year.  Several people immediately asked if they would be taking notes for a majority of the year.  To their relief and to Harry's delight, she said that there would be a lot of practical work and maybe a few field trips, so to speak, if she could squeeze them in. There was an instant buzz of excitement at all the possibilities of what they would do. The whole class was talking excitedly and having a relatively good time considering what class they were in and all the experiences from last year. Then, to everyone's surprise, the bell rang and class ended. They had been having so much fun that they didn't realize what time it was.

Harry and Hermione exited the class where they expected to meet up with Ron at the end of the hall. Ron however was not there and it didn't take Harry and Hermione long to jump to conclusions. They made a left at the bottom of the next stairs instead of their usual right and headed for Professor McGonagall's office. They knocked and weren't surprised when they poked their heads in the door and saw Ron with ice on his knuckles and Draco with more ice on his mouth and a handkerchief to his nose.  It took Harry and Hermione about half a second to realize what had happened. McGonagall was nowhere to be seen, so they rushed over to Ron.

"What happened?" Harry insisted.

"Well I..." Ron began.

"Please, spare us the details," Hermione droned rolling her eyes.

"Well," Ron continued through clenched teeth. "This animal was coming on to Ginny, and when I tried to defend her honor the coward tried to walk away."

Draco again became very tense and stared shaking.  The others failed to notice.

"When I made it stand up to what it had done, the animal shoved me so I punched it," Ron finished. " The thing didn't have enough guts to be a man."

Ron had barely finished those mortal ten words when Draco flew out of his chair, grabbed Ron by the neck and threw him on the ground, punching him in the stomach.  About two seconds later Professors McGonagall, Snape, Dumbledore and Madame Pomfrey walked in the room to find Draco and Ron at each other's throats (again), and Harry and Hermione trying desperately to pry Draco off of Ron without getting killed themselves. After the dust had settled the two boys had been wrenched apart and the punishment had been distributed the losses stood as follows: Draco had a black eye, bloody nose, swollen lip countless bruises, fifty points from Slytherin and two weeks of detention. Ron had bruised ribs, swollen knuckles, a loose tooth, a twisted ankle, fifty points from Gryffindor and also two weeks of detention. Harry and Hermione had five points each from Gryffindor for snooping around where they should not have been and for interfering in a dilemma that was not theirs. Ron and Draco were taken to the hospital wing with a teacher escort (for obvious reason...Madame Pomfrey didn't want to take them herself) for repairs. Harry and Hermione were promptly told to get back to class and to mind their own business from now on by a very frazzled Professor McGonagall.

"But Ron is our business," Harry tried to argue as she slammed the door in their faces.

" I just don't understand why Ron is acting this way?" Hermione puzzled as they exited the castle to make their way to the greenhouses for Herbology. "He's been it such weird moods lately."

They reached Greenhouse Four just in time to see Professor Sprout performing a demonstration dissection on what looked like a rather shriveled up, slimy beet type thing. Harry and Hermione's mind were far from the dissection up in the third lowest tower on the left wing of the castle with Ron who was sitting on a bed in the hospital wing.


	3. A Second Hand Emotion

A/N: Yeah! Let's hear it for cool foreign teachers! That should be fun I love Ms Hammond. And Ron is at it again. Man he just has a knack for loosing his temper, tisk tisk. Well there is more where that came from. (hee hee foreshadowing) And all around the situation just gets more complicated. Poor Harry (tee hee more foreshadowing!)

Chapter 3

A Second Hand Emotion

The days passed. Classes (and detentions) came and went, the weather got colder and the leaves began to fall. It was two days until the Halloween Feast and Harry, Ron, Seamus and Hermione were sitting on the rug in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, doing more talking than homework. Seamus was spilling to them about this girl he had met in Astrology, and about how wonderful she was but how the situation was complicated.

"Just ask her out for goodness sake, so we can stop hearing you complain about the complicatedness of the situation," Hermione groaned as she flipped aimlessly through her Potions textbook.

But Seamus, being a boy, and having bad experiences with girls in the past, was unsure of how to approach the situation without scaring her away or hurting her feelings.

"Look," said Ron. " The more you think about it, the more complicated it will become. Then you won't know what to do, because your brain will be so messed up that you can't think straight. But you can't get her off your mind, because she's so wonderful and amazing and you love her, but hate her too. And you won't be able to sleep at night if you don't tell her you love her, and it will consume your entire being!" Ron, who had been passing the room and speaking so loud the whole common room could hear, realized what he was doing turned an amazing shade of crimson, and stopped abruptly. He slumped back down on an armchair trying to avoid suspicious glances.

"Where did that come from?" Harry asked wide-eyed.

"I dunno," Ron replied sheepishly. " Guess I just have strong views on...uh...this sort of stuff."

Hermione didn't say anything. Everyone finished his or her homework in silence, lost in thought.

October 31 arrived much to everyone's delight. Classes seemed to lag by at the slowest possible rate known to human existence. The sixth year's classes seemed even longer. They took notes in Transfiguration, had a pop quiz in Potions, and spent all of Astronomy charting planets. The only fun class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts, even if they took notes. They were going in depth into vampires, defense against them and remedies and such and Professor Hammond was telling them the most hilarious stories about her school days back in Australia and the experiences she had while she was working as an assistant to a local Auror in New Zealand. Harry was convinced, (and Ron and Hermione agreed) that this was going to be one of their best years at Hogwarts. Classes finally ended and everyone rushed to their rooms to get ready for the feast. Harry and Ron were almost ready to go, when Hermione poked her head in their door catching all the boys by surprise.

"Ah! What are you doing in here?" Dean screamed ducking for cover as he was lacking a shirt.

"Oh dry up Dean," Hermione groaned. "I have seen a guy with no shirt before. It's called a swimming pool. Anyway can someone help me with this necklace? I can't get the clasp done up."

"Why couldn't you get a girl to help you instead of coming all the way up here?" Harry asked.

"They were all in the bathroom doing their make up, and, well I don't really know the girls in the other rooms very well." Hermione confessed.

"That's a lame excuse," Seamus commented. " I mean come on, it's a necklace. You don't have to have an intimate relationship with someone to get them to do up your necklace."

"What about Ginny?" Harry asked. "You know her. She could've done it."

"Oh...I didn't think of that." Hermione said.

"That's still a lame excuse," commented Dean

"Someone just come and help me for goodness sake!" Hermione exclaimed impatiently.

"I will," said Ron walking over to her.

The other boys stopped what they were doing and watched curiously. Ron took Hermione's hair in his hand and brushed it gently in front of her shoulder. Then her took the gold chain the snapped it together turning the charm so it was even on her neck. Then he let her hair fall back placing his hands on her shoulders turning her around to face him.

"Thanks," she said trembling because she was closer to Ron's face than she had ever been in her life.

"No problem." Ron replied smiling then moving past her back over to his trunk.

Everyone was very still for a second and Hermione didn't move a muscle until Harry broke the silence.

"So.... we...uh...better finish getting ready then Hermione...uh...bye." Harry half mumbled.

"What? ...Oh right...see you downstairs." She replied coming back into reality and heading out the door.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" the boys asked pouncing on Ron the moment Hermione had shut the door.

"I dunno...it was nothing...Ow...Get off me!" Ron yelled pushing them away.

"Nothing! Nothing! Dude, that was not nothing!" Dean exclaimed. "You were totally hitting on her."

"It's nothing ok? Just leave it." Ron protested annoyed.

Harry just stood off to the side and looked worriedly at Ron. If Ron really liked Hermione, which Harry suspected he did, Harry could lose his two best friends. What would he do then? They would get together and even though Harry knew they wouldn't desert him, he knew that they would be together with each other more, as any healthy couple would and they would unintentionally leave him out. It certainly gave Harry something to think about and he knew he would have to confront Ron about it sooner or later.

Nevertheless everyone finally made it down to the Great Hall for the feast. As usual it was absolutely delicious. Ron and Hermione didn't say anything to each other the whole meal but it was the most obvious thing to see that they kept looking at each other, trying not to let the other one see. Harry was becoming continuously worried and made up his mind that he was going to talk to Ron about it tonight.

At the same moment Harry decided to confront Ron about Hermione, Ron himself was coming to his own realization. He hadn't seen Ginny in at least two days, which was very unusual because where ever Hermione went Ginny usually went to. They were such good friends. But where had she been? Ron had a sneaking hunch and it didn't sit well with him. Not well at all. He stood up and looked around. Ginny wasn't there. He looked frantically across the hall. A certain someone wasn't at his table either. Harry and Hermione noticed something was wrong.

"Ron?" Hermione asked tentatively. " What's wrong? What are you doing?"

"Uh...nothing," Ron replied. "Listen I have to take off. I'll meet up with you guys later."

Harry and Hermione, being smarter than Ron gave them credit for, followed without hesitation. Ron ran out into the entrance hall. It was deserted. Where could they be? They certainly couldn't be in any common room. That wasn't allowed. Ron rushed outside into the garden. He raced through the small hedge maze that had me conjured for the event. Harry and Hermione found it hard to keep up because he kept darting all over the place. Then Ron spotted them. Draco Malfoy, the archenemy of the _entire _Weasly family, and his sister were sitting, too close together in Ron's opinion, on a rock at the end of one of the passages. He raced toward them, Harry and Hermione hot on his trail. Ginny and Draco saw Ron sprinting toward then and jumped up immediately. Ron was just about to grab Draco by the collar and throw him on the ground when Ginny jumped between them.

"RON, STOP!" she shouted.

"WHY?" Ron shouted back. "GIVE ME ONE GOOD REASON WHY I SHOULDN'T MURDER HIM HERE WHERE HE STANDS?"

"Because...because...because he's told me things Ron, things about him. He's not the devil everyone makes him out to be," she replied calming down.

"Oh really?" Ron asked still outraged.

Draco took a step toward Ron his fists clenched but Ginny held her ground.

"He's not," she continued. "Look...I can't tell you anything because that's up to Draco."

"Psht! As if I would want to hear what that oaf has to say," Ron mumbled under his breath.

Again Draco tried to get past Ginny to pummel Ron with no success however.

"You should want to," Ginny said. "Everyone deserves to be listened to. Well...I guess there's not much to do now when everyone's so riled up. I...I should go and let you guys work it out if you want. But _without _fighting please."

Ginny stepped gingerly out from between the two fuming boys and started making her way to the exit of the garden.

"I'll come with you!" Draco called after her. "We're defiantly not working _anything_ out tonight and probably not ever." He shot a menacing glare and the three friends and he pushed past them to catch up to Ginny.

"Oh no you don't!" Ron yelled starting to run after them before Harry jumped on him pinning him to the ground.

"Let them go," Harry said struggling to keep Ron pinned until he finally gave up and relaxed. "You're not going to get anywhere besides McGonagall's office if you go after him. They were only talking! Maybe nothing happened."

"Oh stuff was happening, all right," Ron said standing up. "I know from the way he was looking at her. It's the same way I..." he stopped mid sentence. "Never mind," he said brushing past his friends. "Let's just get back to the castle. We probably missed the rest of the feast thanks to that git."

Harry passed Hermione and she gave him a "What do I do? Talk to him _please_!" look that made Harry chilled to the bone. This whole situation was way to complex for him to comprehend. He was definitely going to have to talk to Ron...tomorrow. Or maybe he would do it the next day.


	4. Weird Confessions in Wonky Ways

A/N: Jeepers I think Ron needs a sedative! Cool it boy. But anyway yes Ron and Hermione definitely have a thing for each other...to put it in light terms. And poor Harry he's caught in the middle of it all. Sniff. Whatever, it will be resolved, and very soon I might add (hint hint)

Chapter 4

True Confessions in Wonky Ways 

The wind was blowing quite violently at 9:34am on the morning of November the 6th when Harry drifted into consciousness. Everyone else in the room was still sound asleep, as Harry noticed when he sat up and put on his glasses, except Ron. Harry suspected he was already awake, and downstairs eating breakfast, because he had been up all of last night. Harry woke up once that night, and from what he remembered, Ron had been sitting up in his bed reading, or writing or doing whatever he was doing because he couldn't sleep. Harry knew exactly why too, but he preferred to shove it to the back of his mind because it annoyed him. He had been procrastinating in talking to Ron about the Hermione issue, but decided as he got out of bed and got dressed, that he was going to make himself do it today because it was a Saturday and he would have a lot of time to do it. Harry quietly left the dorm and made his way down to the common room where he found, to his surprise, Hermione and Ginny, who were up, dressed and deep in what looked like a very private conversation. They stopped whatever they were talking about and looked up as he passed.Hermione looked as if she had been crying and Harry had enough sense to know that he should just keep walking. He would talk toher later.

Just as he had predicted, Harry found Ron sitting alone at one end of the Gryffindor house table nibbling on a dry piece of toast. Harry sat down next to him and reached across Ron for the eggs, but Ron didn't even acknowledge his presence. Harry decided to make the first move.

"All right," Harry said, placing the dish of eggs a bit more forcefully that he would have, down in front of Ron, giving him a start. "What is your problem?"

"Nothing," Ron mumbled.

"Oh dry up Ron! You, me, and probably the rest of the bloody school knows that you you've got a stick up your ass! I'm sick of you wallowing in your own misery." This was a bit more severe than what Harry was meaning to say but he thought it would be good in getting the point across.

"I am not wallowing in my own misery," Ron argued back. "I'M SURE YOU WOULD BE TOO IF YOU !" He was once again yelling and brandishing a fork in Harry's face. The few staff and students who were around, looked over wondering what was causing the commotion. Ron paused and lowered his voice. "If you were – were – were in love with someone who didn't love you back." He spluttered out at a rate almost impossible for the human mouth to utter. Ron, who just realised what he said and to whom he had said it went bugged eyed and let his mouth hang open. Then he got up as fast as he could, avoiding Harry's look of faked amazement (he had known all along) and made a move for the exit. Harry let him go because he knew there would be other times to discuss this and that it would probably be easier if Ron let it out in small amounts. I guess there were advantages to having a girl as one of your best friends. They may be crazy, over-emotional and impossible to understand, but one did pick up a few pointers here and there.

Abandoning his breakfast, Harry made his way out into the Entrance Hall. He had to hurry there were Quidditch try-outs at 10:30, which meant that he only had forty-five minutes to get his practice robes, get down to the pitch, and prepare for the pre-try-out explanation. He had neglected to do this earlier in the week on account of his mind being filled with homework and Ron/Hermione confusion. Being Quidditch captain was more planning work than he realized. No wonder Oliver and Angelina were always so stressed out. Hmm this could also be a reason why Ron was avoiding him. They had gotten the news only a few weeks ago, (McGonagall told Harry before the official start of season) and he had sort of mentioned it in passing to everyone on the team. He never thought about the fact that Ron might be put off by the whole thing. Fantastic, now there was just one more problem to add to the already rather large pile.

Harry quickly made his way back to the Gryffindor tower taking steps two at a time. He passed Hermione and Ginny, yet again, butHermione looking much better than she had earlier that morning. Each had their arm around the other and was talking again. When Hermione saw Harry coming up the stairs her face dropped and she looked suddenly concerned. She avoided his glance, but stopped abruptly at the last second and grabbed him by the arm, almost causing him to plunge face first down the very long, stone staircase.

"Jeez Hermione!" Harry yelped finally finding his footing. "Look I know things have been tense lately but you don't have to take it out on my by throwing me down the stairs."

"Oh my goodness!" Hermione squeaked when she realised where Harry was headed and let go of his arm. "I guess I've just been rather nervous lately. Sorry. Uh – Could you uh – Could we talk – some time later – maybe."

"Yeah sure, whenever you want." Harry replied straightening his distorted sweater.

"Ok uh – maybe after tryouts then?" she asked.

"Yeah sure," Harry answered now feeling rather awkward. He knew what was coming.

"Alright then," Hermione called heading the rest of the way down the stairs to Ginny. She had grown impatient and continued on to the bottom.

"This was it," Harry thought resuming his assent of the staircase. "The moment of truth. His two best friend would reveal their secret love and he would be thrown aside like an over used dust rag."

The wind had died down since the morning, much to Harry's delight, when he walked out onto the Hogworts grounds a few minutes later. This meant that Harry's life would be much easier. It was bad enough that he had to scrutinize and then perhaps shatter peoples dreams of becoming world class Quidditch stars, but adding the wind factor on top of that, would have made it worse. The team needed two Chasers and two Beaters and Harry was dreading it. He hated making sticky decisions. The prospects, when things finally got under way, were not as bad as Harry had predicted. Colin and Dennis Creevey tried out each for Chaser and Beater and weren't bad at all. Harry thought that slamming a ball into oblivion was an excellent channel for their energy. Several others who tried out were also surprisingly good. It was going to be a rough decision. Thankfully Harry had Ron and Ginny to help him in his dilemma. Although Ron kept mumbling something about how Harry was the Quidditch captain, and so it didn't matter what they thought, he was going to make the decision in the end anyway. This annoyed Harry. After all he was the one bearing the brunt of Ron's complicated love life and – well – Harry was Quidditch captain so Ron was just going to have to deal with it!

After try-outs and after the hoard of gabbing prospects had left, Harry, Ron and Ginny trudged back up to the castle, fighting as they went because the wind had started up again. Once they were in the castle, Ginny, for a reason unknown to the boys said goodbye and went in the opposite direction of the common room.

"Where are you going?" Ron called after her, but she was already halfway down a staircase and didn't hear him. "I bet I can guess," Ron mumbled under his breath. Harry changed the subject.

"So what do you think of the new prospects for the team?" He asked trying to keep the mood light.

"They're fine," Ron mumbled again. "I'm sure you won't have any trouble deciding." he then added something Harry couldn't really hear. Harry thought it was about how he might as well just replace Ron since he was so lousy and everyone else was really good.

"I thought we cleared up the self pity issue this morning," Harry remarked rather bluntly. "Look," he said stopping in front of the fat lady and not saying the password to go in. "I know things have been – well – complicated. But I guess it will all just work out – somehow." All this mushy talk was making Harry queasy. Yeah! This was just one more thing to look forward to for later when he had to talk to Hermione.

"Yeah, I suppose," Ron sighed, uttering the password and leaning forward to duck through the door, but getting abruptly whammed in the face by the door, as someone was coming out.

That someone happened to be Hermione who was leaving the common room to look for Harry, though the boys didn't know it. She screeched again and clamped her hands over her mouth. Harry just started laughing.

"OW! I think my nose is broken!" Ron yowled bent over in agony.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" Hermione apologized tears starting to run down her cheeks. "I – I am just hav – having such a terr – terrible day!" she sobbed burrowing her face in her hand and sliding down the wall. Harry had stopped laughing a while ago transfigured some scraps of paper that were in his pocket into tissues, and gone over to help Ron whose nose wasn't broken but bleeding quite a lot.

"Oh dawn't cry Herrmiune," Ron struggled to say beneath his hands, the pain and the blood. Ron pushed Harry aside, went over to Hermione, picked her up off the ground and pulled her into a (slightly bloody) hug.

Harry, once again, felt very awkward, jealous and angry. He just wanted things to go back to the way things were before, when this whole business never existed. Subconsciously Harry had suspected it had always existed, but preferred to suppress the idea. Finally Harry just left, went into the common room and slumped down into one of the many armchairs. Ron and Hermione noticed Harry's inferior exit so Ron went down to the hospital wing and Hermione went into the common room to talk to Harry. She walked nervously across the hearthrug and sat down in a chair adjacent to Harry's. She thought this was going to take a while so she made herself comfortable.

"Harry," she started. "Can we uh – talk about a few things?"

"Sure," Harry replied lazily.

"Um – I don't exactly know where to start. Uh – what do you think about uh – Ron?" she asked thinking it was a rather stupid question.

"He's my friend," Harry answered also thinking it was a stupid question.

" No I mean about uh – what he thinks of – of – things." She spluttered trying to form concrete sentences. It wasn't working.

"For goodness sake, Hermione," Harry said staring to become annoyed. "Just say what you want to say."

"Ok fine. Harry do you think Ron likes me?" Hermione blurted out very fast with her eyes screwed shut.

"Yes," Harry answered bluntly, and resorting to one-word answers in hopes that it would make the conversation go faster.

" Really? Hermione asked her face lighting up.

"No he doesn't. Jeez Hermione have you not seen the way he looks at you!" The one word thing wasn't going to work Harry could see that. He was really going to have to tell Hermione the truth and hope it would be painless. "He's in love with you Hermione, and what's more, you're in love with him. Now I may be a guy and know nothing about relationships, but I am not so dense that I can't see when TWO PEOPLE ARE IN LOVE SO MUCH IT HURTS THEM, AND THEIR FRIENDS!" Harry was now standing up and yelling.

Hermione looked hurt and started to cry. Now Harry felt like an idiot. He went over to Hermione and hugged her.

"I'm sorry Hermione," Harry apologized letting her go. "I – It just hurts me to think that my two best friends will become a couple and – and forget about me." Now it was Harry's turn to be downcast.

"Oh Harry," Hermione assured him. "We would never in a million years do that to you. We both love you a lot, even though Ron has a very disoriented way of showing it." She laughed and slid off her chair to join Harry on the rug.

"But – but do you really think he loves me," she asked tentatively, still hopeful.

"Yes he does," Harry answered, also chuckling. He couldn't believe he was saying this. "And you love him too," he said poking Hermione in the arm.

"Yes – Oh my gosh!" Hermione exclaimed smiling immensely, and turning slightly pink. "What should I do? Oh please tell me Harry, you're a guy, you know what he's thinking."

"I'm not going to tell you what he's thinking." Harry laughed to himself.

"Oh," Hermione replied looking taken aback. "Well what should I do then?"

"Tell him you love him for pity's sake! Oh God I sound like a complete idiot!" Harry said shaking his head.

"No, no," Hermione said. "This is great. Oh my gosh I can't believe this!"

"Oh my gosh I'm so excited!" Harry added very sarcastically. They laughed.

Just then Ron, and several other people came down the stairs. Others were also making their way to the exit to go down for dinner. Hermione and Harry looked up and Hermione turned red and cracked a smile. She got up, slid through two chairs and passed Ron. She smiled, and ran her hand gently across his shoulder then slipped out the door. Harry followed Hermione past the dumbfounded Ron and slapped him hard on the back.

"Nicely done," he said also smiling. Harry knew what he did was the right thing. He was a little more comforted with Hermione's assurance that he would not be dumped, but he still knew it would be a difficult situation.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and other students made their way down to the Dining Hall for dinner. It seemed as if the house elves were having a rather good day because there was roast beef, potatoes, corn and a delectable dessert selection. Hermione had the cheesiest grin on her face the whole time and Ron just stared from her to Harry in bewilderment wondering what had gone on in his absence. Ginny was also at dinner, back from wherever she had run off to, but in conversation with one of her friends.

Harry wasn't particularly hungry. All he wanted to do was go to bed so he would be unconscious, and wouldn't have to think of this mushy love stuff until the morning.

After everyone was mostly done eating Hermione pulled out a parchment from in her pocket, bummed a quill off Dean Thomas, scribbled something on it and shoved it under Ron's plate. Then she ran off in a flourish her long brown waves flowing out behind her. Ron dropped his fork in an instant, ripped the note out from under his plate, launching his fork across the table into a crowd of third year girls who screamed in surprise. He read the note, turned pink and sat there concentrating and looking as thought the wheels in his head were turning at a breakneck speed.

"What is it?" Harry asked even though he already knew the answer. He wanted to be supportive.

"Hermione wants to talk to me in the Room of Requirement in ten minutes," He said looking as though he was about to sing a solo in front of a live, international audience.

"Oh really?" Harry answered still trying to be supportive.

There was a long silence as Ron stared bugged eyed across the room, really looking at nothing in particular and Harry sat there nibbling away at his dinner roll. Then Ron spoke.

"I love her," he said quietly and then turning to look at Harry. "I have for a long time. I just – didn't have the heart to tell her, or you. I knew it would change all of our friendships." Ron turned away again to continue starring across the Hall

"I know," Harry replied, keeping his eyes on his plate. The fact that Ron had known and acknowledged that his love for Hermione had the potential to drastically alter the bond between he three friends eased Harry's mind. It was good to hear this from the one person he would miss the most if anything happened.

"Harry I – I have to go," Ron suddenly said getting to his feet. "You don't mind do you?"

"No," Harry said. "Go on, she'll be waiting. Oh and take this."

"What is it?" Ron asked taking the small plastic container Harry had handed him.

"They're mints," Harry replied grinning. "You're going to need it."

"Thanks," Ron called running down the aisle.

Ron tore off down the right corridor, up the stairs and onto the second floor. Shoving several of the little white mints into his mouth, Ron tried frantically to straighten his hair and try to look somewhat presentable. Presentable! What was he thinking he needed to be hot! But there was no time for that now he had to find the room. Now which hallway...Ah ha! Here it was. Ron stopped and caught his breath. He was shaking from head to toe. His heart was pounding so fast he was sure than anyone coming from two hallways away could hear it. Mustering up all the courage he possessed and doing the first bold, daring and impulsive thing in his life, he creaked open the door to the Room of Requirement. It was beautiful. The whole room was glowing with the soft, warm light of about a million candles. It smelled like a tropical rainforest and had curtains of ivy and jasmine hanging over the windows and the doorway. Hermione was standing in the middle of the room wearing a long flowing dress with her hair let down and sparkling with gold dust. Ron slowly walked over to where she was standing.

"Hermione you look – oh this is so amazing!" Ron looked around in awe and then back at her. "Did you make all this?"

"Yes, thank-you," She said smiling and blushing. "You came. I was so worried you wouldn't."

"Of course I came," Ron replied taking her hand. "How could I not? Hermione I – there is something I want to tell you. Hermione I – "

"No," she whispered. "You don't need to say anything."

Then she touched his cheek with her hand and kissed him. Ron looked at her for a long time.

"I love you," he said.

"And I love you," she replied smiling.

They held each other for what seemed like the whole night the soft glow of the candles dancing around them and each in their own minds dwelling on the sweet reality of finally finding the one they loved.


	5. Tension

1A/N: Oh my gosh, I am such a mushy mush! I apologize for the intense mushiness in Ch 4 but sometimes mush in necessary in order to further the plot. But I am a sucker for romances so don't hate me if it happens again. (And you have to admit that it was cute) Anyway I'm excited about Ch 5 because we get to discover the inner workings of an evil criminal mastermind (well not actually). Get ready, this one is a monster. Thank-you to everyone who has reviewed! Yeah reviews are good! hint

Chapter 5

Tension

It was two o'clock in the morning, one particularly cold, snowy day in January, when Draco Malfoy awoke suddenly in a sweat. A terribly frightening dream, which he had been having off and on for months was the cause of his insomnia. Perhaps he should tell someone, but the dream had been so – well – his friends just wouldn't understand! He glanced over at Crabbe and Goyle who were both snoring extremely loudly. It was a miracle that he had survived six years sharing a room with those two gorillas. There was a fat chance of Draco telling THEM anything, they would think he'd lost his mind, and besides, he didn't think their vocabulary was extensive enough for Draco to get the point across. Hold the phone! He could tell HER, she would understand. In fact she had been the only person he had been able to talk to for the last few months. It had been great! There was finally someone who would take him seriously and listen and not treat him like he was the devil reincarnate.

"Oh shut up you stupid idiot!" Draco told himself flopping back down on his pillow and covering his face with his hands. "Ginny, along with her entire family, hates you and that is never going to change."

Ginny would never be concerned by a dream in which Draco Malfoy, the archenemy of her family, was being hurt, and in pain. No, she would be rejoicing in the fact that the person who had caused her family all kinds of trouble was being tortured. In fact, she probably didn't even want to hang around with him, but was only doing it because she was sweet and considerate and gorgeous and – AH STOP IT!

The warm morning sunshine shone softly through the window of the fourth year girls' dorm, onto the face of Ginny Wesley. With it came the monotonous routine of getting up, getting ready and going to class. Ginny hated getting out of her warm comfortable bed with its squishy quilt and pillows; she wished she could stay there all day! But it wasn't like she had anywhere else to go, so the idea of eating breakfast was what eventually dragged her out of bed. And besides, it was going to take her at least an hour to get ready before she even dared to make an appearance downstairs. This extra attention to morning preparation was something that Ginny stared doing subconsciously one day. It hadn't, however, escaped the notice of her friends.

"Why are you up so early Ginny?" Claire James another female Gryffindor fourth year asked, yawning and checking the clock.

"I'm not," Ginny answered wondering why Claire would ask such a silly question.

"It's quarter after six! Class doesn't start until 8:30!"

"This isn't any earlier than I normally get up," Ginny answered starting to get annoyed.

"Fine do whatever you want," Claire said rolling over in her bed. "I'm going back to sleep."

Goodness gracious 6:15 wasn't that early. What were her friends' problems!

Draco finally got out of bed, got dressed and went down to breakfast at 7:45 a.m. It was never going to work and he just needed to face it. He was over her and that was that.

"Everything will just go back to normal and I won't worry about her anymore," Draco told himself as he headed down a dungeon hall.

"Normal," Ginny thought exiting the Gryffindor common room. "That's how things have always been. Her friends were obviously just overreacting to her spending a little time with Draco. Jeez, it wasn't like she thought about him every waking moment . . ."

"I'm not obsessed!" Draco said aloud confusing a cluster of third years, as he climbed the steps out of Dungeon 2.

"Obsessed is hardly the word," Ginny decided descending one of several moving staircases. "Concerned is more like it, but it's not as if I like him or anything. He's Draco! He's evil and annoying and well, he is kind of fun to be with."

"She's so fun though. And smart and beautiful and sweet . . . ah stop!"

"Be quiet Ginny! You're talking nonsense! He's Draco. You hate him. But . . . well . . . he is sort of cute – what!"

"SHUT UP!" Draco and Ginny both yelled, out loud to themselves, as they were passing each other in the Entrance hall.

"What? Oh sorry," They both said together.

"I – I have to go," Draco sputtered out in surprise.

"Right… me too. Bye," Ginny responded abruptly.

They both turned to go and there was an awkward moment when neither could decide which way the other was going. They finally figured it out, but by then it didn't matter because they were both headed for the Dining Hall anyway. They said nothing to each other as they headed for their respective tables and then proceeded to just stare into space.

"I'M SUCH AN IDIOT!" Ginny finally exclaimed aloud.

"Why?" asked Hermione who had just slid into the seat next to her.

"I totally screwed up. Now he thinks I'm a loser and I hate him." Ginny explained hitting her head with her hand.

"Who thinks you're a loser?" Hermione asked still confused.

"Now we are never going to talk again and then I – well – I just won't know what to do," she cried burying her face in her arm.

"Huh? Ginny I'm still lost." Hermione said taping Ginny on the shoulder.

"Oh never mind," Ginny sighed. "It won't make a difference anyway. It's over." She then grabbed several croissants and stuffing one in her mouth, slouched off out of the hall.

Hermione was still confused.

Just then there was a ruckus at the doors to the Entrance Hall and everyone turned to look. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Hammond were talking in hushed, hurried tones to someone who looked like they knew exactly what they wanted and was causing the teachers a generous amount of stress. As time progressed, the teacher's voices grew increasingly louder until nearly everyone in the Dining Hall was looking as the group swept past. Suddenly the stranger stopped and shouted above the rest.

"PLEASE DO NOT RESTRICT ME MADAM, I AM HERE FOR MY SON AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!" Lucius Malfoy bellowed at a very intimidated Professor McGonagall. Everyone stopped dead.

"I thought he was in jail," hissed Hermione to Harry.

"He was," Harry hissed back. "But I guess since the Dementors left to join Volde- I mean You-Know-Who that they all busted out."

"He's right Minerva," they heard Dumbledore say calmly but agitated. "Let him go."

Fuming with rage, Lucius stormed over to the Slytherin table right to where Draco was sitting.

"D-Dad," Draco stammered fearfully. "How did you -? What are you –?"

"GET ON YOUR FEET, YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A SON!" Lucius shouted grabbing Draco by the collar. "And not as much as a breath from you until I'm finished, do you understand?" Lucius started dragging Draco out of the Hall and then closing and jinxing the huge doors shut, with everyone staring in dead silence. "I came here to get the truth, foul boy, because I couldn't bring myself to believe it. While we all sat rotting in that filthy prison, Vincent Crabbe Sr. received a letter from his son. He then relayed the disgusting news to me, that his son told him you had disowned your true friends over a – that blood-traitor of a Weasley girl. Not only do I have to deal with all the treachery and injustice in my being imprisoned but now I hear about this!"

Draco's blood boiled but he remained silent, casting his eyes to the floor.

"I want to hear you say it," Lucius sneered pushing his son against a wall. "Have you or have you not been seeing that pathetic, poor, impure little -?"

"Don't say that about her," Draco whispered his rage almost exploding

"Excuse me?" His father asked sarcastically

"Don't say that about her when you, I and our whole family have lied, stole, cheated and murdered. Before you so freely delve out insults, maybe you should take a look in the mirror!" Draco accused spitting at his father's feet.

"WHY YOU DISRESPECTFUL LITTLE PIECE OF FILTH!" Lucius shouted, slapping Draco hard across the face so he fell, hitting his head on a stone step, sending him into unconsciousness.

"STOP!" Ginny screamed, running into the open after having crept after the pair and hid behind a statue. Ron, Harry and Hermione had followed.

"Stay out of this, girl," Lucius sneered, turning on her.

"N – No! I won't!" Ginny stammered holding her ground.

"Ginny please leave them," Ron begged, whispering for fear of also being attacked. "This is none of our business."

"No Ron this is my business," Ginny answered hesitantly. "This is my business because – because well I – well I care for Draco, quite a lot, actually." She looked over at Draco still unconscious on the floor. Ron, Hermione and Harry were rendered speechless and just stood there with their mouths hanging open.

Lucious Malfoy was turning red and shuddering with fury. "I will deal with you later, Weasley, but right now I have to teach my son some respect." Lucius raised his wand over Draco, but before he could do anything Ginny rushed over and grabbed his hand.

"NO!" She yelled, struggling to restrain his arm.

"INSOLENT FILTH!" Lucius roared throwing Ginny off his arm and onto the ground, dislocating her shoulder. "I WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON FOR CHALLENGING ME AND MEDDLING IN MY FAMILY!" He pointed his wand straight at Ginny's heart in a sudden surge of rage. "CRUCI –

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Boomed a ferocious Professor Dumbledore, bursting through the closed Dining Hall Door and looking much the same way he did only six months ago in the Department of Mysteries. That terrifying fire Harry had observed suddenly blazed once more from his eyes and he looked with rage, contempt and disgust at Lucius Malfoy who was now cowering behind his cloak. "How dare you strike one of my students and more importantly your own son? Get out of my school Lucius Malfoy, before I do something I will regret," Dumbledore bellowed at him.

"The Minister will hear of this, Albus," Lucius sneered. "He will hear that you intervened between my own dealings with my son."

"He will indeed, Lucius," Dumbledore replied. "He will hear that you escaped from prison and then almost performed an Unforgivable on an innocent student who was trying to keep you from abusing your child. Now out!"

Malfoy merely sneered and skulked away out of the castle whipping the tail of his cloak behind him.

"Now," said Dumbledore more quietly turning to face Harry, Ron and Hermione whom he had discovered hiding. "Disregarding the fact that the four of you once again intervened in a situation that was none of your business, I would like you Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss. Granger to forget about this incident for now and go on with your respective scheduals. I will see you in the Hospital Wing this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Thank you, I think that is everything you children need to see here. Oh and five points from Gryffindor each, the three of you, for snooping in other people's affairs."

"What about Ginny? We only followed to make sure that Malfoy didn't kill her" Ron protested starting to walk over to help her but being stopped by Dumbledore's cloaked arm.

"Professor Hammond will be helping me bring Ginny and Draco to the hospital wing where, I am sure they will be fit to see you later."

"I don't care at all about that cheating, good for noth– Ron started to say while Dumbledore peered at him over his half-moon spectacles. "I mean – uh – I just want to make sure my sister is OK."

"I understand completely Ron," Dumbledore assured him. "But right now I need to deal with a few things and it would help if there weren't a lot of extra bodies running around being all concerned and trying to help, which are very noble causes by the way. It would be best if you all just went to your classes and I will see you when they are over at four o'clock."

The three friends took the hint and exited with much disdain. The Headmaster proceeded to carry Draco to the hospital wing and Professor Hammond followed assisting Ginny, who was clearly very shaken.

The rest of the day crawled by at the slowest rate possible known to man. Harry, Hermione and Ron were all very impatient through all their classes and especially the last class of the day, which simply had to be double Potions.

"And make sure you don't let the Mandrake root burn to the bottom of the cauldron," sneered Professor Snape who kept peering over everyone's shoulders looking pleased with their failure. "But then again I won't be surprised when you do."

Harry was stirring his cauldron aimlessly, not paying attention to the violent red color it wasn't supposed to be turning, checking his watch every thirty seconds and trying to ignore Snape as much as possible. Hermione was, as usual, getting everything perfect and Ron was just staring into his oozy-looking potion, wondering what he had done wrong. The end of class finally came, after what seemed like a century and the three friends hurried to the Hospital Wing. Harry cracked open the door and they entered quietly. Ron rushed immediately to Ginny who had obviously been at morning classes and was standing next to Dumbledore. Ron hugged her.

"Ginny are you OK?" he asked quietly finally letting her go. "How's your arm?"

"Ron I'm fine. It was mostly shock."

"I swear," Ron declared starting to get angry. "If I ever get my hands on that Malfoy, I'll rip him to shreds! Both of them actually"

Ginny looked a little hurt but didn't say anything. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Are you satisfied now young Weasley to see your sister is well?" the headmaster asked.

"Yes," Ron answered sighing.

"Now," Dumbledore continued. "There is one other matter which must be addressed that has been brought to my attention by our other patient." (Ron glared at a curtained bed across the room). "He would like to talk to you all and you will restrain yourself, mister Weasley." Dumbledore looked suddenly serious and frowned at Ron over his spectacles.

The company walked over to a bed in the corner. Dumbledore whipped the curtain aside with a wave of his wand to reveal a black-eyed, bandage headed Draco sitting up against several pillows. Ginny knelt beside the bed, held his hand, and then looked over hopefully at her friends. They were all looking very serious, businesslike and not happy at all. Ginny's face fell.

"Well Malfoy," Ron snapped. "Just say what you have to so we can get this over with and get out of here."

"Well," Draco started nervously. "There is a lot that I think I should tell you guys, which Ginny mostly already knows." Draco stopped and exhaled slowly as if trying to calm himself and prepare for what he was about to say. "I would like to start out by apologizing to all four of you actually. I have really been terrible for the past six years and I think in the beginning I was really serious about it." Ron sniggered but Draco just ignored him and continued. "During this past summer and few months we have been at school, I have come to grips with my whole life up to this point, what it has meant and how I reacted to it, I guess. There were - are - a lot of outside factors that I need to explain before you can understand why I am doing this and I suppose why my personality has been what it has for the whole time we have known each other."

Harry and Hermione were very surprised and softened at this little introduction to what seemed like was going to be a very long speech and decided to pull up some chairs. Ron was not so convinced however, but decided to sit and listen anyway because he was a respectable gentleman, far better that this raving loony.

Draco then proceeded to tell the whole company everything that he had been burying inside himself for almost two years.

"First of all," he started, "you guys should know something about my family history. As far as I know my whole family has been pure blood and – well evil for about ten generations. We have all been in Slytherin, except for the odd few, and since You-Know-Who has been around, we've been on his side."

"No kidding," Ron snorted.

"Shhh Ron, let him explain," Hermione said gently stroking Ron's arm.

"No!" Ron exclaimed pulling his arm away sharply. "After everything he has said about us, our families and all the times we should've ratted him out and didn't. I don't understand why you are so soft on him all of a sudden. And you to Harry!"

"I didn't so anything!" Harry protested.

"You should be the angriest. This guy's Dad tried to kill you! He's a Death Eater, henchman of the guy who killed your parents!"

"That doesn't mean Draco is or is going to join Voldemort." Harry said. Everyone shuddered.

"How can you three be so blind?" Ron barked. "He just admitted plain that he was on You-Know-Who's side! I have had enough!" At that he stormed across the room toward the door, but Dumbledore stopped him before he could leave.

"Ronald, listen to me," Dumbledore said kindly, turning a fuming Ron to face him. "I can understand why you are upset. Your families have been at odds for a very long time and I cannot imagine how some of the disputes have hurt you. But you need to give him a chance. There are things you don't know about his life that has caused him to display crass behavior toward others. These are the reason why I failed to act in certain situations among the group of you where perhaps, under different circumstances, I should have. I would like you to go back over there, listen to what Draco has to say and then decide how you will judge him."

Ron nodded and slowly made his way back to his seat without saying anything or looking at anyone. Draco continued.

" For as long as I can remember there has sort of been a subconscious expectation of me to be perfect, be on You-Know-Who's side, believe that pure-blood wizards were the only true kind and believe that everyone else was below my family. I have always been pushed to get top marks in every thing and no matter what happens, I am always right and I should do whatever I have to in order to get my way. I guess you could say my parents raised me to be a brat. Ha! Usually that's exactly what a parent doesn't want their kid to become. The first time I really understood what my parents' expectations were, was just before the start of our first year. My Dad was counting on me getting into Dumstrung and when I didn't, I really got what for. That was the first time he hit me. I was so shocked, and I didn't know what to do. I always thought I wasn't good enough for him and that incident just reinforced that matter. I used to do anything to make him happy with me. Anyway, when I came to Hogworts I naturally expected to make every friend, be in Slytherin and be the most perfect student in the school's history. This desire for attention also grew from not getting any at home. I was proved wrong on our very first day, in the Entrance Hall by you Harry," Draco looked up at Harry and made sort of a half smile.

"When I first discovered who you were, the sharp sting of jealousy struck the back of my mind. I had always been jealous of my Parents' work, friends and agendas because they always got more attention than me, but this was a different kind. Here you were, the kid who defeated You-Know-Who and everyone loved you, even Dumbledore. So, in order to not let this strange emotion take hold of my life, I extended my hand to you in a rather one-sided friendship way where I would obviously control the whole thing. I was shocked when you shut me down and frankly was at a loss for words. That was the first time in my life that a kid didn't think I was the greatest thing since sliced bread and so I insulted both of you," Draco looked over at Ron, "in order to make myself feel better." Draco paused and caught his breath. This was going to be harder than he had anticipated.

"Anyway," Draco resumed. "I attempted to brush the incident off but that little jealous part of me wouldn't go away. That's why I made your lives horrible. Subconsciously I just wanted to be your friend the whole time and the only way I could think of to get your attention was to annoy you. Quite stupid eh?" Draco blushed a little at his admission and the reinforcement of how thick he really had been.

"So that's basically why I have been a jerk to everyone except Slytherins for our whole time at school. There are also some more recent events that have caused me to come to grips with and reevaluate my life. Within the past two years, I have overheard, from my Dad and his friends, way too much for my liking. It mostly started around the middle of Christmas holidays of our Fourth year when I came home from a friend's really late and overheard my Dad talking to someone through the fireplace in his office. I could tell who it was because I didn't want to get caught, which ended up happening anyway, as I was sort of hiding outside the door. They were talking about You-Know-Who and all these rumors that were going around, especially since the Dark Mark had been conjured at the Quiddich Cup, and the preparations and contacts they should probably make. But something in me was curious and I guess thought it was wrong. Anyway I got caught and punished for snooping.

I didn't really give it much more thought until the end of that year, just before the Tri-Wizard Tournament ended, when my Dad sent me a letter saying that there was some serious investigation going on concerning You-Know-Who's return. I was surprised and sort of denied it because I suppose I never really thought he was actually real. I know that sounds stupid because the evidence is obvious, but I still just thought that it was the stuff my parents were into and it didn't concern me because they never talked about it a lot. He also said that if everything proved to be true he wanted and expected me to, and I quote: 'fully support the family, and any collaborators, in all decisions which are made regarding the situation and to do everything in my power to aid them in any action taken.' Nothing like a 'Hi Son, how has your year been? You know there are some issues I think we need to discuss and I would appreciate your support in.' they aren't exactly the most loving, affectionate people in the world, as I am sure you have noticed."

Harry and Ron chuckled, but were quickly silenced by glares from Ginny and Hermione.

"It's OK," Draco answered. "I have laughed about it occasionally to. Anyway, after I read the letter, I was irritated at first that he would just assume I wanted to help or even cared. I wasn't even the assumption; it was he forcing me to do something with him. He had hardly given me the time of day for mostly my whole life and now he was insisting on my help? Almost simultaneously with this thought came the more powerful thought of 'Hey this is your chance to finally spend time with him. And he is offering!' All those years of neglect made for a very convincing case and so I just continued in my own little world of denial.

When Diggory died and it was proved that You-Know-Who was actually back and Dad went to meet him and everything, there was something inside of me that defiantly said that things were serious, if I got involved it would only lead to trouble and that if people my age were dying for no reason, then I didn't want to be involved. But all those years of being ignored had built up such a powerful force in my mind that I just couldn't ignore. It was way easier giving in to what I really needed and wanted than fighting basically my whole family, all our friends and the whole 'evil' community over a gut feeling. I didn't specifically tell my parents that I was going to support them, but I also didn't specifically tell them that I wouldn't be either. Since they already presumed that I was going to support them, the matter was assumed settled.

During our fifth year obviously I continued to be a jerk, but that was because I was so angry with myself for not challenging my parents and that I was having these doubts and reservations about what my whole support system of family and friends were doing to support You-Know-Who, that I totally wasn't used to. Because of my Dad, I knew about all the dumb stuff that happened that year. I knew about Umbridge and how she, with the help of my Dad and others, weaseled her way into the school. I knew about all the dumb rules and the corruption in the Ministry. This obviously explains how I avoided getting into trouble for practically the whole year and how I was able to, for lack of a better phrase, 'suck up' to basically the entire staff. This is something that I am particularly ashamed of. Talk about being a man. During all this, I actually did try to break free of my invisible contract of loyalty at home. I fought with my parents a lot during the last part of that year and during the summer, especially after the thing in the Department of Mysteries. I just couldn't believe what was going on. I think it was because I wasn't around during all the first round of You-Know-Who stuff. I had only heard stories and I guess I didn't realize how serious it was. When my Dad came home after big fight, before being shipped off to prison, we had a huge row. He had started by telling me all the people that were hurt and then he said that Black fell behind the curtain and how much of a fuss everyone made. That is why we fought. I was angry at him for treating it so lightly."

Harry had gone stiff at the mention of Sirius's name. Ron, Hermione and Ginny were all looking at him. This was really the first time anyone had mentioned Sirius since the summer.

"What's wrong?" Draco asked seeing their reactions

"He was my God-Father," Harry croaked trying to fight back the tears that had welled up unexpectedly in his eyes. "He was the only family I had left."

"Oh," said Draco quietly feeling very awkward for bringing up the subject. "I'm really sorry."

"Thanks," Harry replied shortly. This wasn't what he needed now.

"Uh - should I finish tomorrow?" Draco asked tentatively.

"No," said Harry shakily. "Keep going."

"Harry," Hermione interrupted softly. "Maybe we should."

"No!" said Harry firmly. "I want him to finish."

"Ok," replied Draco. "Anyway like I said, my Dad got thrown in Azkaban. Now I had no hope of a normal family ever. To make matters worse, my Mom was so upset she just locked herself in her room almost all the time and cried to all her annoying friends. She wouldn't even talk to me about it. I had a lot of arguments with her and a few heavily worded letters with my Dad. I don't think they could believe what I was saying - I didn't even know what I was saying! I just kept going on about how what we were doing was wrong except not really making any sense because I wasn't sure what I thought or felt about the whole thing. There was just something in my gut that told me it was wrong. Anyway, I finally just left because school was starting soon and I couldn't take it anymore. That's why I was alone on Kings cross. I stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for around a week because I knew my friends wouldn't understand either. The only person who really knew about all this before is Ginny." Draco smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Ginny?" Hermione asked surprised. "You knew about all of this?"

"Most of it," Ginny sighed because it was felt good to not have to keep the secret anymore. "I know about the recent stuff, and more about Mr. Malfoy being in Azkaban." Ginny looked sadly at Draco because she knew deep inside him he really still loved his parents, even if he wouldn't say it, and that it was tearing him up to have had his Dad in prison and actively involved with Voldemort.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Ron asked also surprised and obviously very annoyed.

"Draco told it to me in confidence. I wasn't about to betray him."

"Well you bloody well should h -" Ron stopped himself. It was pointless to carry on like this. Dumbledore was right Draco had reasons for acting the way he had. Ron was only annoying himself by keeping a grudge. It was like drinking poison and hoping the other person would die. How dumb! It was time to bury the hatchet.

"Draco - um," Ron started everyone looking at him anxiously. "I - uh - I'm sorry for all the years we hated you and all the stuff we said and I hope you can forgive me." Ron blurted this out so fast and so mumbled that no person with any kind of sense of hearing would have been able to distinguish it. The words the four did pick up, however, dumbfounded them.

"I get it," said Draco extending his hand to Ron. They did the manly handshake and grunt of approval and ended the matter. The girls chuckled to themselves.

"And me as well," added Hermione quickly, squeezing Ron's hand.

"Same," agreed Harry just as bluntly as Ron had.

Draco knew what they all meant and was very grateful. He felt that hot burning sensation in the corners of his eyes and tried to fight it, but to no avail. All the emotion that he had been bottling up for so long suddenly poured out much to everyone's embarrassment. Ginny however, feeling similar feelings for having kept his secret for so long, cried as well. After the two had quickly wiped away the tears, Ginny knelt beside the bed, laying her head on Draco's chest. He stroked her hair gently and she felt safe.


End file.
